Jets coach Aaron Glenn is still committed to Justin Fields as his starting QB

NEW YORK — A day following the worst passing performance in Jets history, Aaron Glenn isn’t making a quarterback change.

Following the Jets’ 13-11 loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday, dropping their record to 0-6, Glenn rebuked a reporter when he was asked about potentially benching Justin Fields.

“What kind of question is that?” Glenn said.

After watching the film of the game and seeing his performance, Glenn said on Monday he is sticking with Fields.

“I thought about the question that was asked, and when you look at what Justin did, the games that he played,” Glenn said. “Listen, I didn’t think he was bad at all. I actually thought he did some pretty good things in those four games.

“In this fifth game, he took a step back. And I’m with you guys 100%. And we can’t have that. And he knows that. And he knows that better than anyone, you know? So, I don’t think you just try to bench a player after having one true bad game, because I thought the other games, he played fairly well.”

Judging just based on stats, Fields has been serviceable after passing for 799 yards and four touchdowns in five games [he missed Week 3’s game against Tampa Bay due to a concussion]. However, since the Jets’ Week 1 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Fields' play has been below mediocre.

Fields had an all-time stinker of an outing against the Broncos. He completed 9 of 17 passes for 45 yards. He also lost 55 yards after being sacked nine times, resulting in the Jets having -10 passing yards for the game. In Week 2 against the Bills, Fields also completed just 3 of 11 passes for 27 yards.

In addition, Garrett Wilson, the Jets’ best receiver, had just three catches for 13 yards against the Broncos. He entered Week 6 as the leading receiver in the AFC in terms of catches.

It wasn’t just that Fields was missing open receivers down the field, but he was again holding onto the ball too long. This has been an area of concern for Fields since his time with the Bears, after they drafted him in 2021.

Fields’ average time to throw against the Broncos was 3.95 seconds, according to TruMedia. For context, the league average time to throw for quarterbacks this season has been 2.65 seconds. Holding the ball too long in the pocket typically leads to sacks, which happened on Sunday after Fields was brought down nine times.

Unlike some of the games this season, the Jets had every opportunity to defeat the Broncos. Their special teams and defense played arguably their best games of the season, but Fields and the Jets offense couldn’t move the ball down the field.

“We have to play complementary football,” Fields said on Sunday. “They had a hell of a game today. Offense has to do a better job complementing that. Yeah, like I said, all in all just we didn’t have a good day on the offensive side of the ball.”

Seven of the Jets’ 12 possessions failed to produce first downs. When they were able to move the ball, a lot of the work was done on the ground, where the Jets finished with 92 rushing yards.

The worst drive of the game came right before halftime when they had the ball on 4th and at their own 47-yard line with 32 seconds left. Instead of trying to get at least a field goal or a touchdown before halftime, Glenn let the time run off, and the Jets went into the locker room down 10-6 at the time.

Glenn says if he had to do it over, he would have run a play before the half.

“As I thought about that, and I think the question was asked about the confusion part, when you look at it, man, it was, the ref said first down,” Glenn said. “And that’s what we want to respect the ball. And someone else said, No, it’s not. It’s fourth down.  And at that point, man, if we tried to run and play, I thought that’s a real confusion gonna come from.

“But you know what, to be honest with you? I wish I could have kicked the clock down in five seconds and just do a Hail Mary, to be honest with you. But at that point, I want no confusion. Let’s just get out the half, guys. We getting the ball back to second half, and let’s get ready to go.”

At 0-6, the Jets are just hoping to keep their season from spiraling out of control. This is the third time in franchise history the Jets have started a season winless in their first six games (1996, 2020).

Despite the Jets record, Glenn remains confident in the direction of the team.

“Obviously, everybody wants to make sure they have a winning record,” Glenn said. “But here’s the thing that a lot of things that was not heard from the very beginning on, man, we’re not talking about Super Bowl, we’re not, man, we’re trying to build a foundation of making sure that we win consistently.

“How do you do that?  Man, you just can’t just throw things out there and just have an unstable foundation. I do know this, there has to be improvement.  And to me, I saw improvement within that game. Does that mean that we’re gonna go on this bill of winning every one of our games? No, but I know this. It gives us a better chance to win.”

Glenn will give update on Wilson’s injury status on Wednesday

Glenn said Monday that Wilson (knee) is still having his injury evaluated and he would provide an update on his star player on Wednesday. Wilson played 48 of 57 snaps against the Broncos, but it appeared he suffered the injury during the Jets’ final drive.

On a third-and-8, Fields threw a pass to Wilson that was knocked out of his hands. Wilson then walked to the sideline and was not in the game during the Jets’ final play of the game when Fields was sacked for the ninth time.

Glenn didn’t specify whether Wilson would miss significant time due to the injury.

“Well, I don’t really want to speak on that right now, to be honest with you, because I just don’t know what it is,” Glenn said. “And today, I have a better understanding of that, and I’ve been to let you know on Wednesday. But it’s always concerning when you lose one of your better players. I will say that.”

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